Savannah's first African American museum gets historical marker

On Monday, a historical marker was unveiled to tell the story of residents Calvin and Virginia Kiah, founders of the Kiah House Museum.

The museum opened to the public in November 1959 and was the first African American founded museum in Savannah.

Last week, Savannah Morning News quality of life reporter and 912 newsletter curator, Laura Nwogu wrote about the Historic Savannah Foundation has closing on the Kiah House Museum after the property sat vacant for 20 years.

"I'm just so grateful that this house, this legacy, couldn't wait another 20 years for something to happen," museum anthropologist Deborah Johnson-Simon told Nwogu last week. "This fight for a marker was not an easy fight. We were turned down and had we not gone to the city, we could have risked not being able to apply for a marker again."

In an emailed Q&A, Simon talked about how she became familiar with the Kiah House and the efforts to keep its legacy alive in Savannah.

— Raisa Habersham, watchdog reporter at the Savannah Morning News

Follow me on Twitter at @newsworthy17 or email me at rhabersham@gannett.com

Pulse of the 912

RH: Tell us about yourself and how you initially became familiar with the Kiah House.

DJS: I am a native Petersburg, Virginia later raised in Baltimore Maryland. I am a museum anthropologist. I became familiar with the Kiah House when I was working at Morgan State University in the Office of Museums.in Baltimore.

I was based in the James E. Lewis Museum of Art, and I worked on the exhibition team for the reopening of the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museums. This museum was the second museum started by Virginia Jackson Kiah, and it was to honor her mother, a civil rights activist.

More: Campaign raises funds to save one of Savannah's oldest Black-founded museums

RH: Why did you launch the GoFundMe to save the Kiah House and what will you use the funds for now that the property is owned by Historic Savannah Foundation?

DJS: The GoFundMe Campaign to Save the Kiah House set a goal of $80,000 to combat what we considered at the time urgent needs: prevent demolition, obtain city landmark status, and prepare it for a dedicated buyer to purchase and restore the site

The campaign was closed after only being able to raise $12,715 and had 117 donations. I will not give an accounting of every penny of those funds but will say that we met the goal for raising the funds.

Kiah House Fundraiser: Campaign raises funds to save one of Savannah's oldest Black-founded museums

Our acceptance in 2021 to the Georgia Trust Places in Peril helped us with dedicated efforts to see this become a city landmark; the denial of the marker by Georgia Historical Society allowed us the opportunity to work with the Metropolitan Planning Commission to get the Kiah House listed in the Cuyler Brownville Historic District as a contributing property.

We were provided space at Savannah State University to work on a Black Museology Archive. So, in other words, the funds have been used for Kiah research and will continue to be used for research and support of the Kiah legacy.

Opinion: Wanda Lloyd: Three cheers for those who worked to save the Kiah House Museum

RH: Can you say why the Kiah House is essential to Savannah, specifically the city’s Black culture?

DJS: For me the historical maker has expressed the essential passages about the museum and those who established it. (See below) And that is why it was so important to have that in place before fighting for the restoration of the building, which I have said before. Because when I got to Savannah in 2013 the interest in that house had slipped through the cracks. So much so that it didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of being saved. I was literally told that so many times that I felt if I was a country music, or blues song writer I could turn that sentiment into a hit song.

RH: Now that the Kiah House is owned by Historic Savannah Foundation, what would you like to see become of the museum?

DJS: It is not now, or has it ever been about me and what I want to see become of the museum. As a museum anthropologist who studies Black museums, my work involves the research of the museum. That does not just mean buildings but the individuals who comprise that museum’s story.

Historical Marker Significance: Historical marker will keep memory of Kiah House Museum alive

In the case of the Historic Savannah Foundation and its ownership of the building, my hope is that they will consider the previous owners and their individual histories as well as the historical significance of the building they now possess and then look to the Cuyler Brownville Neighborhood community using the eyes of the new knowledge gained to see how this place can continue to serve that community.

RH: We always end with this questions: Why do you love Savannah?

DJS: I can’t say that I have always loved Savannah, What I will say is that I have grown to love Savannah because it is a place of possibilities from impossibilities.

Art of The 912

The 912 newsletter will highlight a local Black artist every two months as the header image for the weekly issue. This month's artist is Tafy LaPlanche.

Follow LaPlanche on her website and on Instagram:

Website: lepouf-art.com

Instagram: @lepouf_art

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This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's first African American museum gets historical marker